Ka-Ching..Mall Shoppers get Cash!…What the Internet can never Match…Recipe for a Successful Mall….details in our latest dmm e-news

More than Just Shopping: The Recipe for a Successful Mall

Start with a great location and throw in a generous number of stores. Add a dash of music, fine dining and a hint of unique activities. Bake all that with some top-notch cleanliness, security and accessibility, and you have yourself one fine shot at a crowd-pleasing recipe. Cleveland.com recently took a look at various shopping centers in the area to find out how best to feed its population. “Lines have blurred between shopping, entertainment, and community,” the article cited from Nielsen’s 2013 report, Brick by Brick: The State of the Shopping Center. “This blending of experiences has created an opportunity for retail to strengthen social ties within communities looking for communal experiences.”

Time.com: Malls Offer “What the Internet Can Never Match”

There are plenty of things the internet does exceedingly well. Cat videos, for example. You just can't find a better collection of cute and cuddly cats and kittens anywhere else. But there are some things the internet can never do: indoor ski slopes, sea lion shows, and submarine rides are but a few of the experiences one can have – not online, but at a shopping center. For sure, not every mall or shopping center can have all these things, but that's what makes each center a potential destination. Time.com recently spotlighted the country's largest mall and the proposed center in Florida that may end up dwarfing it. Sure, you can find cats and dogs and animals of all kinds on video and in photos from all over the world right on your computer or smartphone, but if you want a unique experience where you can interact with animals, head out to the California mall mentioned in the Time.com article.

What's being billed as a “first-of-its-kind” rewards program for a mall, a Chicago area shopping center has partnered with a start-up company to bring rewards to its patrons for the shopping they do within the entire mall. Unlike the loyalty programs that many individual stores offer, the Spring Rewards program, which launched last week at Starwood’s Chicago Ridge Mall in Chicago Ridge, IL, provides kiosks for customers to sign up for “Oh, So Simple Rewards” that cover the entire mall. The program, according to Chicago Inno, shoppers can then “link their existing credit or debit cards. Without needing to carry an additional loyalty card, mall shoppers get cash ($10 for every $250 spent) put directly on their registered card.” For more details, check out the company's press release.